Electronic device and music visualization method thereof

ABSTRACT

An electronic device and a method for controlling the electronic device, the method including receiving an input of a command to reproduce music contents, determining audio characteristics information on the music contents and situation information on an environment where the music contents are being reproduced; and displaying a visualization effect of visualizing the music contents using the audio characteristics information and the situation information, and reproducing the music contents.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/268,556, filed on Feb. 6, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/285,834, filed on Oct. 5, 2016, in theU.S. Patent and Trademark Office and claims priority from Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2015-0140874, filed on Oct. 7, 2015, in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present disclosure relate toan electronic device and a music visualization method thereof, and moreparticularly, to an electronic device configured to display avisualization effect of visualizing music contents, and a musicvisualization method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

In listening to music, recent music listeners seek not only auditorypleasure but also visual pleasure that reflect the characteristics ofthe music, and in order to satisfy such needs, conventional musicreproducing apparatuses provide visual effects that fit thecharacteristics of the music, thereby providing fun elements inlistening to the music.

For example, conventional music reproducing apparatuses extractcharacteristics such as beat, tempo, onset and the like through signalprocessing in time or frequency areas of sound source data, and usingthese extracted characteristics, provide visual effects such asflickering LED or changing motions of animation in step with strongbeats when reproducing the music.

However, since such visual effects of music reproducing apparatuses useonly the characteristics of the music itself, when listening to the samemusic or music with a similar atmosphere, always a same or very similarvisual effects are provided, and the colors or motions of the visualeffect itself may easily become monotonous.

SUMMARY

Additional aspects and/or advantages will be set forth in part in thedescription which follows and, in part, will be apparent from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the embodiments.

A purpose of the present disclosure is to resolve the aforementionedproblems of prior art, that is, to provide an electronic device thatreflects the environment where music contents are being reproduced inthe visualization effects of visualizing the music contents, and a musiccontents visualization method thereof.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provideda music contents visualization method of an electronic device, themethod including receiving an input of a command to reproduce musiccontents; determining audio characteristics information on the musiccontents and situation information on an environment where the musiccontents are being reproduced; and displaying a visualization effect ofvisualizing the music contents using the audio characteristicsinformation and the situation information, and reproducing the musiccontents.

Further, the reproducing may include determining the visualizationeffect corresponding to the audio characteristics information; changingthe determined visualization effect based on the situation information;and displaying the changed visualization effect as the visualizationeffect of visualizing the music contents.

Further, the visualization effect corresponding to the audiocharacteristics information may be an image effect where a basic imageof a certain theme changes according to the audio characteristicsinformation, and the changing of the determined visualization effectbased on the situation information may change at least one of a basicimage, a background, a color, a brightness, a chroma, a speed of changeand a range of change of the visualization effect corresponding to theaudio characteristics information based on the situation information.

Further, the visualization effect corresponding to the audiocharacteristics information may be a visual effect where light emissionof at least one LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamp changes according to theaudio characteristics information, and the changing of the determinedvisualization effect based on the situation information may change atleast one of a color, a brightness, a chroma, a contrast, a speed ofchange and a range of change of the visualization effect correspondingto the audio characteristics information based on the situationinformation.

Further, the audio characteristics information may include at least oneof beat information, mood information and highlight information of themusic contents, and the situation information may include at least oneof weather information, date information, time information, informationon a brightness of an area surrounding the electronic device andinformation on attributes of a reproducing list.

Further, the method may further include displaying a mode selecting UI(user interface) for selecting one of a simple visualization mode thatuses only the audio characteristics information and a smartvisualization mode that uses the audio characteristics information andthe situation information, wherein when the simple visualization mode isselected from the mode selecting UI, the visualization effect ofvisualizing the music contents using only the audio characteristicsinformation may be displayed, and when the smart visualization mode isselected, the visualization effect of visualizing the music contentsusing the audio characteristics information and the situationinformation may be displayed.

Further, the method may include determining the visualization effect setthrough a simple visualization setting UI for setting the visualizationeffect corresponding to the audio characteristics information as thevisualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation; and changing the visualization effect corresponding to theaudio characteristics information using the situation informationselected through a smart visualization setting UI for selecting thesituation information being used to change the visualization effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information.

Further, the method may further include receiving information on thevisualization effect set through the simple visualization setting UI andinformation on the situation information selected through the smartvisualization setting UI from an external device.

Further, the determining the situation information may determine thesituation information in real time while the music contents are beingreproduced, and the changing of the visualization effect may reflect thesituation information determined in real time to change thevisualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation.

Further, the determining of the situation information may determine thesituation information at a time point when the command to reproduce themusic contents is input, and the changing of the visualization effectmay select a visualization effect changing method corresponding to thesituation information at the time point when the command to reproducethe music contents is input from a prestored table where thevisualization effect changing method according to the situationinformation is matched and apply the selected visualization effectchanging method to the determined visualization effect.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there isprovided an electronic device including an inputter configured toreceive a user's command; an audio outputter configured to reproducemusic contents; a visualization effect display configured to display avisualization effect of visualizing the music contents; and a processorconfigured to, when the command to reproduce the music contents is inputthrough the inputter, determine audio characteristics information on themusic contents and situation information on an environment where themusic contents are being reproduced, control the visualization effectdisplay to display the visualization effect of visualizing the musiccontents using the audio characteristics information and the situationinformation, and control the audio outputter to reproduce the musiccontents.

Further, the processor may determine the visualization effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information, change thedetermined visualization effect based on the situation information, andcontrol the visualization effect display to display the changedvisualization effect as the visualization effect of visualizing themusic contents.

Further, the visualization effect display may include a display, and thevisualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation is an image effect where a basic image of a certain themechanges according to the audio characteristics information, and theprocessor may change at least one of a basic image, a background, acolor, a brightness, a chroma, a speed of change and a range of changeof an image effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation based on the situation information.

Further, the visualization effect display may include at least one LED(Light Emitting Diode) lamp, the visualization effect corresponding tothe audio characteristics information may be a visual effect where lightemission of the at least one LED lamp changes according to the audiocharacteristics information, and the processor may change at least oneof a color, a brightness, a chroma, a contrast, a speed of change and arange of change of the visualization effect corresponding to the audiocharacteristics information based on the situation information.

Further, the audio characteristics information may include at least oneof beat information, mood information and highlight information of themusic contents, and the situation information may include at least oneof weather information, date information, time information, informationon a brightness of an area surrounding the electronic device andinformation on attributes of a reproducing list.

Further, the processor may control the visualization effect display todisplay the visualization effect of visualizing the music contents usingonly the audio characteristics information in a simple visualizationmode, and to display the visualization effect of visualizing the musiccontents using the audio characteristics information and the situationinformation in a smart visualization mode, of the simple visualizationmode of using only the audio characteristics information and the smartvisualization mode of using the audio characteristics information andthe situation information.

Further, the processor may determine the visualization effect setthrough the simple visualization setting UI for setting thevisualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation as the visualization effect corresponding to the audiocharacteristics information, and change the visualization effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information using thesituation information selected through a smart visualization setting UIfor selecting the situation information to be used to change thevisualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation.

Further, the electronic device may further include a communicatorconfigured to communicate with an external device, wherein the processorcontrols the visualization effect display to, when information on thevisualization effect set through the simple visualization setting UI andinformation on the situation information selected through the smartvisualization setting UI are received from the external device, displaythe visualization effect of visualizing the music contents using thereceived information.

Further, the processor may determine in real time the situationinformation while the music contents are being reproduced, and reflectthe situation information determined in real time to change thevisualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation.

Further, the processor may determine the situation information at a timepoint when the command to reproduce the music contents is input, selecta visualization effect changing method corresponding to the situationinformation at the time point the command to reproduce the musiccontents is input from a prestored table where the visualization effectchanging method according to the situation information is matched, andapply the selected visualization effect changing method to thedetermined visualization effect.

According to an additional embodiment of the present disclosure, thereis provided a non-transitory computer readable storage storing a methodthe including a music contents visualization method of an electronicdevice, the method including: receiving an input of a command toreproduce music contents; determining audio characteristics informationof the music contents and situation information in an environment wherethe music contents are being reproduced; and displaying a visualizationeffect of visualizing the music contents using the audio characteristicsinformation and the situation information, and reproducing the musiccontents.

According to the aforementioned various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the visualization effects of visualizing music contents maychange according to the environment where the music contents are beingreproduced. Accordingly, a user may experience various music contentsvisualization effects even when listening to the same music contents ormusic contents of a similar atmosphere.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects of the present embodiments will be moreapparent by describing certain embodiments of the present disclosurewith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are a detailed block diagram of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C are an exemplary view provided to explainvisualization effects of visualizing music contents according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view of tables where a visualization effectchanging method according situation information is matched according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C are an exemplary view of a mode selecting UI, asimple visualization setting UI and a smart visualization setting UIaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are an exemplary view where situation information isreflected in a visualization effect of visualizing music contentsaccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a music contents visualization methodof an electronic device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a music contents visualization methodof an electronic device according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments, examples ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. Theembodiments are described below to explain the present embodiments byreferring to the figures.

In explaining the present disclosure, when it is deemed that specificexplanation on a related well known technology may unnecessarily obscurethe main point of the present disclosure, detailed explanation of therelated well known technology will be omitted. Further, the suffix“unit” of an element in the explanation hereinafter is used for the sakeof convenience of writing the specification, and thus, the suffix “unit”itself does not have a different meaning or role.

Hereinafter, “unit” refers to a software element or a hardware elementsuch as FPGA and ASIC, and performs certain functions. However, “unit”is not limited to software or hardware. “Unit” may consist of a storagemedium having an address, and may be configured to be executed by one ormore processors. Therefore, “unit” includes elements such as softwareelements, object-oriented software elements, class elements andoperation elements, and processes functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, sections of program codes, drivers, firmware, micro codes,circuits, data, databases, tables, arrays and variables. Functionsprovided by elements and units may be combined into a smaller number ofelements and units, and may be divided into a greater number of elementsand units.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will beexplained with reference to the drawings attached. FIG. 1 is a blockdiagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic device accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, theelectronic device 100 includes an inputter 110, an audio outputter 120,a visualization effect display 130 and a processor 140.

The inputter 110 is a configuration, such as a keyboard or touch screen,for receiving a user's command for manipulating the electronic device100. Especially, the inputter 110 may receive a user's command toreproduce music contents. Further, the inputter 110 may receive a user'scommand for selecting a mode on a mode selecting UI displayed on thedisplay 130 as will be explained hereinafter, and receive a user'scommand for making various settings such as a simple visualizationsetting UI and a smart visualization setting UI.

For this purpose, the inputter 110 may include a button provided in theelectronic device 100, a touch panel (in the case where the display 130is realized as a touch screen), or a remote control signal receiver (inthe case where the electronic device 100 is controlled by an externalremote control, not illustrated), etc.

The audio outputter 120, such as a speaker system, outputs audiosignals. Especially, the audio outputter 120 may reproduce musiccontents according to a control by the processor 140. For this purpose,the audio outputter 120 may include a speaker, and an audio outputterminal, etc. Here, the music contents may be obtained from varioussources such as sound sources stored in an external storage device suchas a USB, a CD player, DVD player and the like or stored in a storage(not illustrated) of the electronic device 100, or sound sources beingprovided from sound source servers operated by contents providers (CP).

The visualization effect display 130 may display a visualization effectof visualizing the music contents.

Here, the visualization effect of visualizing the music contents refersto an effect of visually expressing certain music contents that theprocessor 140 generated using at least one of audio characteristics ofthe music contents and situation information on an environment where themusic contents are being reproduced.

For this purpose, the visualization effect display 130 may be realizedin various types of displays such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display),OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes), PDP (Plasma Display Panel), or ina touch screen that includes a touch panel.

In this case, the visualization effect display 130 may display a modeselecting UI for selecting one of the simple visualization mode and thesmart visualization mode, a simple visualization setting UI for settingan image effect corresponding to the audio characteristics informationof the music contents, and a smart visualization setting UI forselecting the situation information being used to change the imageeffect corresponding to the audio characteristics information, accordingto a control by the processor 140.

Here, the simple visualization mode refers to a mode that displays theimage effect of visualizing the music contents using only the audiocharacteristics of the music contents, and the smart visualization moderefers to a mode that displays the image effect of visualizing the musiccontents using the situation information on the environment the musiccontents are being reproduced as well as the audio characteristics.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment, the visualization effect display130 may be realized as at least one LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamp.Here, the at least one LED lamp may be arranged near the audio outputter120, but there is no limitation thereto.

The processor 140 controls the overall operations of the electronicdevice 100. Especially, when a command to reproduce the music contentsis input through the inputter 110, the processor 140 may determine theaudio characteristics information on the music contents and thesituation information on the environment where the music contents arebeing reproduced.

For example, when the command to reproduce the music contents is input,the processor 140 may check the music contents for which the command toreproduce is input, and determine the audio characteristics informationon the music contents for which the command to reproduce is input ofamong a plurality of pre-stored audio characteristics information on themusic contents. Here, the plurality of pre-stored audio characteristicsinformation on the music contents may be information obtained from anexternal device (for example, a server) that provides audiocharacteristics information on music contents.

Further, according to an embodiment, when a command to reproduce musiccontents is input, the processor 140 may analyze the corresponding musiccontents and determine the audio characteristics information on themusic contents. In this case, the processor 140 may determine the audiocharacteristics information on the music contents first and thenreproduce the music contents, or determine the audio characteristicsinformation in real time while reproducing the music contents.

Further, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, evenbefore a command to reproduce music contents is input, the processor 140may analyze the music contents in advance and obtain the audiocharacteristics information on the corresponding music contents, andthen when a user's command to reproduce the music contents is input, theprocessor 140 may determine the audio characteristics information on themusic contents for which the command to reproduce is input. That is, forexample, in the case where at least one music contents are included in areproducing list, the processor 140 may analyze the sound source of theat least one music contents included in the reproducing list, and obtainand store the audio characteristics information on each music contents,and thereafter, when a command to reproduce a certain music contents isinput, the processor 140 may determine the audio characteristicsinformation on the music contents for which the user's command toreproduce is input of among the audio characteristics information on theat least one music contents obtained.

Here, the audio characteristics information on the music contents mayinclude at least one of beat information, mood information and highlightinformation on the music contents. However, there is no limitationthereto, and thus, the audio characteristics information may be anyaudio characteristics information such as tempo information, onsetinformation and the like as long as it may be used to visualize anddisplay the music contents.

Further, when a command to reproduce music contents is input, theprocessor 140 may determine situation information on the environmentwhere the music contents is being reproduced. Specifically, when thecommand to reproduce the music contents is input, the processor 140 maydetermine the situation information on the environment where the musiccontents are being reproduced at the time point when the command toreproduce the music contents is input. Further, according to anembodiment, the processor 140 may determine in real time the situationinformation while the music contents are being reproduced.

Here, the situation information on the environment where the musiccontents are being reproduced may include at least one of weatherinformation, date information, time information, information on abrightness of an area surrounding the electronic device and informationon attributes of a reproducing list. However, there is no limitationthereto, and thus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,information on conditions of the user of the electronic device and thelike may be included in the situation information as well.

Specifically, the processor 140 may obtain the situation informationfrom an external device such as a server, a mobile device and the like,various sensors (not illustrated) and clock (not illustrated) and thelike provided in the electronic device 100. Further, the processor 140may store or update the situation information obtained asaforementioned. Accordingly, when a command to reproduce music contentsis input, the processor 140 may specify the time point when the commandto reproduce the music contents is input, and determine the situationinformation of the certain time point from the situation informationstored or updated in the electronic device 100.

Further, the processor 140 may obtain in real time the situationinformation from the external device, sensor, clock and the like.Therefore, the processor 140 may determine in real time the situationinformation while the music contents are being reproduced according tothe user's command to reproduce the music contents.

Meanwhile, the processor 140 may display a visualization effect ofvisualizing the music contents for which the command to reproduce isinput using the audio characteristics information and the situationinformation determined as aforementioned, and reproduce thecorresponding music contents. Here, the displaying of the visualizationeffect of visualizing the music contents and the reproducing of themusic contents may be synchronized and performed simultaneously.

Specifically, the processor 140 may determine the visualization effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information on the musiccontents, change the determined visualization effect based on thesituation information, and control the visualization effect display 130to display the changed visualization effect as the visualization effectof visualizing the corresponding music contents. Here, the visualizationeffect corresponding to the audio characteristics information may be animage effect where a basic image of a certain theme changes according tothe form of the visualization effect display 130, or a visualizationeffect where light emission of at least one LED lamp changes accordingto the audio characteristics information.

For example, in the case where the visualization effect display 130includes a display, when a command to reproduce music contents is inputin a state where a bar graph image is set as the basic image of acertain theme, the processor 140 may determine the image effect wherethe audio characteristics information determined for the correspondingmusic contents is reflected in the bar graph as the visualization effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information.

More specifically, the processor 140 may reflect an energy level perfrequency band of the sound source corresponding to the correspondingmusic contents in the bar graph, and determine the energy level perfrequency band changing according to time when the sound source is beingreproduced expressed in changes in the bar graph as the visualizationeffect corresponding to the audio characteristics information on thecorresponding music contents.

Accordingly, the processor 140 may change the determined image effectbased on the situation information. Specifically, the processor 140 maychange at least one of a basic image, background, color, brightness,chroma, speed of change and range of change of the image effectdetermined as the visualization effect corresponding to the audiocharacteristics information based on the situation information.

Specifically, in the aforementioned example of the bar graph imageeffect, the processor 140 may, for example, change the environment ofthe bar graph image according to the weather information, or change thelength of the bar graph or the changing range of color according to thetime information.

Meanwhile, in the case where the visualization effect display 130includes at least one LED lamp according to another embodiment of thepresent disclosure, when a command to reproduce music contents is input,the processor 140 may determine the visualization effect correspondingto the audio characteristics information on the corresponding musiccontents, for example, the visualization effect of changing lightemission of at least one LED according to at least one of beatinformation, mood information and highlight information of thecorresponding music contents. Further, the processor 140 may change atleast one of a color, brightness, chroma, contrast, speed of change andrange of change of the visual effect determined using the situationinformation.

For example, in the case where the visualization effect display isrealized in a form where six (6) LEDs surround a circular speaker, whena command to reproduce music contents is input, the processor 140 maydetermine the visualization effect of changing light emission of theLEDs according to the audio characteristics information on thecorresponding music contents. More specifically, for example, theprocessor 140 may determine the visualization effect of flickering a redLED to the beat according to the mood information and beat informationof the corresponding music contents.

Accordingly, the processor 140 may change the determined visual effectbased on the situation information. Specifically, for example, theprocessor 140 may change the determined visual effect such that thecolor of the LED changes continuously between blue, yellow and greenaccording to the weather information, or that the brightness or chromaof the color changes according to the information on the brightness ofthe surrounding area, or that the range or speed of color changesaccording to the time information.

However, the method for changing the visualization effect correspondingto the audio characteristics information based on the visualizationeffect corresponding to the audio characteristics information on themusic contents or based on the situation information is of course notlimited to the aforementioned example.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure,the processor 140 may select the visualization effect changing methodcorresponding to the situation information at the time point when thereproduce command is input from the table where the visualization effectchanging method according to situation information is matched, and applythe selected visualization effect changing method to change thevisualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation.

FIG. 4 is an example of the table where the visualization methodchanging method according to situation information is matched. Preset 1400-1 to Preset N 400-N in FIG. 4 represent a table where differentvisualization effect changing methods are matched according tocombinations of the situation information such as the weather, time,date, brightness and list attributes.

Therefore, for example, in the case where it is determined that theweather information is cloudy, the time information is evening, the dateinformation is weekend, the brightness information is outdoors, and theattributes of the reproducing list set by the user is mood 1 at thepoint when the command to reproduce the music contents is input, theprocessor 140 may select Preset 1 400-1 that is the visualization effectchanging method corresponding to the determined situation information,and apply the visualization effect changing method set to Preset 1 400-1to change the visualization effect corresponding to the audiocharacteristics information.

If it is determined that the weather information is clear, the timeinformation is afternoon, the date information is weekday, thebrightness information is dark, and the attributes of the reproducinglist set by the user is mood 2 and highlight at the time when thecommand to reproduce the same music contents is input, the processor 140will select Preset N 400-N, that is the visualization effect changingmethod corresponding to the determined situation information, and applythe visualization effect changing method set to Preset N 400-N to changethe visualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation.

For example, Preset 1 400-1 may be a visualization effect changingmethod of reducing the chroma of the background color, reducing theflickering speed of light and increasing the range of color change ofthe visualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation, and Preset N 400-N may be a visualization effect changingmethod of increasing the overall brightness of the visualization effect,and increasing the speed of motions of objects included in thevisualization effect. However, this is just an example, and thus, anyvisualization effect changing method corresponding to the audiocharacteristics information by combining the situation information maybe matched to each Preset 400-1 to 400-N.

Here, the visualization effect changing method set to each Preset may bepreset by the manufacturing company when manufacturing the electronicdevice 100, but there is no limitation thereto, and thus, it is possibleto display a UI for setting the visualization effect changing methodaccording to the situation information, so that the user may set thevisualization effect changing method through the corresponding UI.

Further, the visualization effect changing method selected from thetable according to the situation information determined at the timepoint when the reproduce command is input may be applied in a lump sumto the changing of the visualization effect while the correspondingmusic contents are being reproduced.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure,the processor 140 may determine in real time the situation informationwhile the music contents are being reproduced, and thus in the casewhere the situation information is changed while the music contents arebeing reproduced, it is possible to reflect the changed situationinformation and change the visualization effect.

For example, when the situation information is changed while the musicis being reproduced, it is possible to select the visualization effectchanging method corresponding to the changed situation information fromthe table once again, and apply the selected visualization effectchanging method to the changing of the visualization effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information of the musiccontents currently being reproduced.

However, there is no limitation thereto, and according to anotherembodiment of the present disclosure, a separate visualization effectchanging method may be matched to each situation information, and theprocessor 140 may change the visualization effect corresponding to theaudio characteristics information using the visualization effectchanging method corresponding to each situation information determined.

Table 1 illustrates an example of changing the visualization effectusing the visualization effect changing method matched per situationinformation. As in the example of table 1, changing brightness ofbackground may be matched to the weather information, changing thechange range of color may be matched to the time information, changingflickering speed of light may be matched to the weather information,changing intensity of light may be matched to the brightnessinformation, and changing chroma and effect may be matched to theinformation on attributes of the reproducing list.

In the example of table 1, the visualization effect corresponding towhen the mood is “quiet mood”, of the audio characteristics informationcorresponding to the music contents, is an image effect where a bluetype background image is displayed and an animation object included inthe image moves slowly, or a visual effect of flickering the LED lampslowly.

Here, in the example of table 1, the processor 140 may change thevisualization effect corresponding to the “quiet mood” by increasing thebrightness of the blue background image and change it to be bright andclean since the weather information is “clear”, by reducing the changingof color since the time information is “evening”, by making no changesto the speed of flickering the LED lamp since the date information is“weekday”, by subduing the intensity of light (by reducing the contrastof color, for example) since the brightness information is “dark”, andincreasing the chroma of the background image and applying a glamorouseffect since the attributes of the reproducing list set by the user is“exciting attribute”.

TABLE 1 Mood Quiet Blue type, slow movement/ flickering Weather ClearBright and clean background Time Evening Reduce changing of color DateWeekday No effect Brightness Dark Subdued intensity of light Attributesof the Exciting attribute Increase chroma, apply glamorous reproducinglist effect

Table 1 is just one example, and thus matching the visualization effectchanging method per situation information is not limited to the exampleof table 1, and thus, there may be of course various types ofvisualization effect changing methods having each situation informationas one type of visualization effect changing parameter.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment, when changing an image effectbased on the situation information, it will be possible to change theimage effect by putting different weights for each situationinformation.

Accordingly, the processor 140 may control the visualization effectdisplay 130 to display the visualization effect changed asaforementioned as the visualization effect of visualizing thecorresponding music contents.

Since the music contents of the same sound source have the same audiocharacteristics information, the visualization effect corresponding tothe audio characteristics information is generally the same as wellregardless of the environment where corresponding music contents arebeing reproduced. However, by changing the visualization effect inconsideration of the situation information on the environment where thecorresponding music contents are to be reproduced, the user listening tothe music contents becomes able to experience a more optimized andvarious music contents visualization effects according to situations.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned electronic device 100 is a device capableof reproducing music contents, determining situation information anddisplaying image effects of visualizing music contents, for example,smart phone, tablet PC, notebook, PMP, phablet, PDA (Personal Digitalassistant), desktop PC, electronic picture frame and smart TV and thelike, but without limitation. The electronic device 100 may notnecessarily be a device configured in one form. For example, amultimedia reproducing system having a TV and a sound bar connectedthereto may be included in the category of the electronic device 100according to the present disclosure, wherein the TV displays imageeffects of visualizing music contents through its screen and the soundbar reproduces the music contents.

FIG. 2A is a detailed block diagram of a configuration of an electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Inexplaining FIG. 2A, contents overlapping with those aforementioned withreference to FIG. 1 will be omitted. According to FIG. 2A, theelectronic device 100′ may include an inputter 110, an audio outputter120, a visualization effect display 130, a processor 140, a communicator150, a storage 160, an audio processor 170, a video processor 180 and anilluminance sensor 190.

The visualization effect display 130 may include at least one of adisplay 131 and at least one LED 132.

Especially, the display 131 may display various images being input fromvarious sources. The display 131 may display various images beingobtained from broadcasting stations, external servers and externaldevices (CD and DVD player, etc.). Especially, the display 131 maydisplay the image effect visualizing the music contents image-processedby the video processor 180, a mode selecting UI, a simple visualizationsetting UI, a smart visualization setting UI and the like according to acontrol by the processor 140.

The communicator 150 performs communication with external devicesaccording to various types of communication methods. Especially, thecommunicator 150 may be connected to an external server via a networksuch as the Internet, and transceive various information. For example,the communicator 150 may perform communication with a server thatprovides audio characteristics information corresponding to the musiccontents.

Further, the communicator 140 may be connected to an external device ina short distance communication method, and receive information on thevisualization effect set through a simple visualization setting UI andinformation on the situation information selected through a smartvisualization setting UI displayed on the external device. Accordingly,the processor 140 may determine and change the visualization effectusing the information received.

For this purpose, the communicator 150 may include at least onecommunication module of a short distance wireless communication module(not illustrated) and a wireless LAN communication module (notillustrated). Here, the short distance communication module (notillustrated) is a communication module for performing data communicationwirelessly with an external device located within a short distance, forexample, a Bluetooth module, a ZigBee module and an NFC module, etc.

Further, the wireless LAN communication module (not illustrated) is amodule configured to be connectable to an external network according toa wireless communication protocol such as Wifi, IEEE and the like toperform communication. Besides the aforementioned, the communicator 150may further include mobile communication modules configured to beconnectable to a mobile communication network according to variousmobile communication standards such as 3G (3rd Generation), 3GPP (3rdGeneration Partnership Project), LTE (Long Term Evolution) and the liketo perform communication.

Further, the communicator 150 may include at least one wiredcommunication module (not illustrated) such as HDMI (High-DefinitionMultimedia Interface), USB (Universal Serial Bus), IEEE (Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394 and RS-232, etc.

The illuminance sensor 190 senses the brightness of light, and outputsthe sensed brightness as an electrical signal. The processor 140 may mapa brightness level according to the output signal intensity and obtaininformation on brightness of the area surrounding the electronic device100.

The storage 160 may store various programs and data necessary foroperating the electronic device 100′. Further, the storage 160 mayperform the function of temporarily storing data generated or obtainedduring the operation of the electronic device 100′.

Especially, the storage 160 may store various data and information suchas the sound source of music contents, data of the visualization effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information, the table wherethe visualization effect changing method according to situationinformation is matched, information where a separate visualizationeffect changing method is matched for each situation information, audiocharacteristics information corresponding to the music content andvarious situation information, etc.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 2B, the storage 160 may store variousmodules for driving the electronic device 100′. According to FIG. 2B,the storage 160 may store a base module 160-1, a communication module160-2, a service module 160-3, an audio characteristics informationdetermining module 160-4, a situation information determining module160-5, a visualization effect determining module 160-6 and avisualization UI module 160-7, etc.

The base module 160-1 refers to a basic module for processing a signalbeing transmitted from each hardware included in the sound outputtingdevice 100′ and transmitting the signal to an upper layer module. Thebase module 160-1 may include a storage module, a security module and anetwork module (not illustrated), etc. The storage module (notillustrated) is a program module that manages a database (DB) or aregistry. The security module (not illustrated) is a program module thatsupports certification, permission, secure storage and the like ofhardware, and the network module (not illustrated) is a module forsupporting network connection. The network module includes a DNET moduleand a UPnP module, etc.

The communication module 160-2 is a module for performing communicationwith outside. The communication module 160-2 may include a messagingmodule (not illustrated) and a telephone module (not illustrated).

The service module 160-3 is a module that includes various applicationsfor providing various services.

The audio characteristics information determining module 160-4 is amodule that determines the audio characteristics information on musiccontents. Specifically, the audio characteristics informationdetermining module 160-4 may determine the audio characteristicsinformation on the corresponding music contents. For example, the audiocharacteristics information determining module 160-4 may use variousalgorithms to analyze sound source sample data of the music contents forwhich the user's command to reproduce is input or of music contents inthe reproducing list in frame units in a time and frequency area, andextract audio characteristics such as Energy, MFCC (Mel FrequencyCepstral Coefficients), Centroid, volume, energy, sub-band energy, lowshot-time energy ratio, zero crossing rate, frequency centroid,frequency bandwidth, spectral flux, cepstral flux and loudness, etc.

Accordingly, the audio characteristics information determining module160-4 may perform an arithmetic operation on the audio characteristicsextracted or apply a machine learning method and the like to the audiocharacteristics extracted to compute and determine the audiocharacteristics information such as beat information, mood information,highlight information, onset information and tempo information, etc.

Further, the audio characteristics information determining module 160-4may determine the audio characteristics information corresponding to thecorresponding music contents by identifying the audio characteristicsinformation on the music contents for which the command to reproduce isinput of among the audio characteristics information corresponding tothe music contents obtained from the external server and stored in thestorage 160, and then extracting the identified audio characteristicsinformation from the storage 160.

When the command to reproduce music contents is input, the situationinformation determining module 160-5 may determine the situationinformation that includes at least one of weather information, dateinformation, time information, information on brightness of an areasurrounding the electronic device and information on the attributes ofthe reproducing list. Specifically, the situation informationdetermining module 160-5 may collect information on conditions forreproducing the music contents, surrounding situations and situationsrelated to the environment through the user, sensor or Internet, anddetermine the same.

For example, the weather information may be determined by obtaining thesame through synchronization with the external server providing theweather information. The date (information on holidays) and timeinformation may be determined by obtaining the same throughsynchronization by a user's setting in the electronic device 100′ orthrough an Internet time server. The brightness information may bedetermined by reading a value of the illuminance sensor 190 provided inthe electronic device 100 and mapping a brightness level according tothat value. The attributes of the reproducing list may be determined asthe user obtains information on the attributes of the reproducing listselected from the music contents player.

The visualization UI module 160-7 is a module that generates anddisplays various UIs for selecting the music contents visualizing methodor and for setting the visualization effect of visualizing the musiccontents.

Specifically, the visualization UI module 160-7 may generate and displaya mode selecting UI for selecting one of the simple visualization modethat displays the visualization effect of visualizing music contentsusing only the audio characteristics of the music contents and the smartvisualization mode that displays the visualization effect of visualizingmusic contents using both the audio characteristics information on themusic contents and the situation information on the environment wherethe music contents are being reproduced.

Further, the visualization UI module 160-7 may generate and display asimple visualization setting UI for setting the visualization effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information and a smartvisualization setting UI for selecting the situation information thatmay be used to change the visualization effect. Examples of each UI areas illustrated in FIGS. 5A-5C.

The visualization effect determining module 160-6 is a module thatdisplays the visualization effect of visualizing the music contentsusing the audio characteristics information on the music contentsdetermined from the audio characteristics information determining moduleand the situation information on the environment where the musiccontents are being reproduced determined from the situation informationdetermining module.

Specifically, the visualization effect determining module 160-6 maydetermine the visualization effect corresponding to the audiocharacteristics information, change the determined visualization effectaccording to the situation information, and display the changedvisualization effect as the visualization effect of visualizing themusic contents.

Further, the visualization effect determining module 160-6 may determinethe visualization method or the visualization effect of the musiccontents according to a user's setting or selection on the various UIsbeing generated and displayed through the visualization UI module 160-7.Specifically, as aforementioned, when the simple visualization mode isselected from the mode selecting UI, the visualization effectdetermining module 160-6 may display the visualization effect ofvisualizing the music contents using only the audio characteristicsinformation, and when the smart visualization mode is selected, thevisualization effect determining module 160-6 may display thevisualization effect finally changed using both the audiocharacteristics information the situation information as thevisualization effect of visualizing the music contents.

Further, the visualization effect determining module 160-6 may determinethe image effect set through the simple visualization setting UI as thevisualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation, and change the determined visualization effect using thesituation information selected through the smart visualization settingUI.

Operations of the electronic device 100′ according to user'smanipulations through the various UIs will be explained in detailhereinafter with reference to FIGS. 5A-5C.

Here, the storage 160 may be realized as various electronic devices suchas a flash memory and a hard disk, etc. According to an embodiment, avirtual storage device on the network may also be included in thecategory of the storage 160.

The processor 140 may control the overall operations of the electronicdevice 100′ using the various modules stored in the storage 160. Asillustrated in FIG. 2A, the processor 140 includes a RAM 142, a ROM 143,a GUI 144, a main CPU 141, a first to nth interface 145-1˜145-n and abus 146.

Here, the RAM 142, the ROM 143, the GUI 144, the main CPU 141, the firstto nth interface 145-1˜145-n and the like may be connected to each otherthrough the buses 146.

In the ROM 143, a command set and the like for system booting may bestored. When a turn-on command regarding the electronic device 100′ isinput and power is supplied, the CPU 141 copies an O/S stored in thestorage 160, and executes the O/S according to the command stored in theROM 143 to boot the system. When the booting is completed, the CPU 141copies various programs stored in the storage 160 to the RAM 142, andexecutes the programs copied in the RAM 142 to perform variousoperations. Especially, the main CPU 141 may perform various operationsusing the various programs modules, data and the like stored in thestorage 160.

When the booting of the electronic device 100′ is completed, the GPU 144displays an image. Specifically, the GPU 144 may generate a screen thatincludes various objects such as an icon, an image, a text and the likeusing an arithmetic operation unit (not illustrated) and a renderingunit (not illustrated). The arithmetic operation unit (not illustrated)performs arithmetic operations on attribute values such as a coordinatevalue, a form, a size, a color and the like of each of the objects to bedisplayed according to a layout of the screen. The rendering unit (notillustrated) generates screens of various layouts that include theobject based on the attribute value arithmetic-operated by thearithmetic unit (not illustrated). The screen generated in the renderingunit (not illustrated) is provided to the display 130 and is displayedwithin a display area.

The first to nth interface 145-1 to 145-n are connected to the variousaforementioned elements 110, 120, 130, and 150 to 190. One of theinterfaces may be a network interface connected to an external devicethrough the network.

The audio processor 170 performs processing of audio data, and outputsthe processed audio data to the audio outputter 120. Especially, theaudio processor 170 may perform various processing operations on theaudio data of the music contents such as decoding, amplifying, noisefiltering and equalizing, etc.

The video processor 180 performs image processing of the image to bedisplayed through the display 130. Especially, the video processor 180may perform image processing on the image effect of visualizing themusic contents. Specifically, the video processor 170 may performvarious image processing operations on the image effect of visualizingthe music contents such as decoding, scaling, noise filtering, framerate conversion and resolution conversion, etc.

FIGS. 3A-3C are an exemplary view provided to explain the visualizationeffect of visualizing music contents according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

Specifically, FIG. 3A illustrates the audio outputter 120 and at leastone LED lamp 132-1 to 132-6 of the electronic device 100 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

As aforementioned, in the case where the visualization effect display130 includes at least one LED lamp, when a command to reproduce musiccontents is input, the processor 140 may determine the visualizationeffect corresponding to the audio characteristics information on thecorresponding music contents, for example, the visual effect of changinglight emission of the at least one LED according to at least one of thebeat information, mood information and highlight information of thecorresponding music contents.

Therefore, in the case where the electronic device 100 operates in thesimple visualization mode, the processor 120 may control the at leastone LED lamp 132 to synchronize the determined visual effect with thereproducing of the corresponding music contents and to display the same.For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, the red color LED lamps 132-1 to132-6 may be operated in the method of flickering according to beat.

However, in the case where the electronic device 100 operates in thesmart visualization mode, the processor may change at least one of thecolor, brightness, chroma, contrast, speed of change and range of changeof the visual effect determined using the situation information, andcontrol at least one LED lamp 132 to display the changed visual effectas the visualization effect of the corresponding music contents. Forexample, unlike in FIG. 3A, the processor 140 may change the visualeffect according to the situation information and control the LED lamps132-1 to 132-6 to emit light such that the red color LED lamp issynchronized with the beat of the music contents and emit light whilerotating from the left side sequentially. However, this is just anexample, and thus the processor 140 may of course change the visualeffect in other various methods using the situation information.Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, thevisualization effect display 130 may include a display 131. In thiscase, the visualization effect corresponding to the audiocharacteristics information of the music contents may be an image effectwhere a basic image of a certain theme changes according to the audiocharacteristics information. FIG. 3B illustrates an example of the imageeffect corresponding to the audio characteristics information displayedon the display 131. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, in the casewhere the basic image of a certain theme is a bar graph per frequencyband, the bar graph may change according to beat information, and theimage effect of which the color of the bar graph is determined accordingto the mood information may be determined as the image effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information.

If the electrode device 100 is operating in the simple visualizationmode, the processor 140 may control the display 131 to display the imageeffect where the green bar graph changes according to the beatinformation as the image effect of visualizing the music contents asillustrated in FIG. 3B.

However, in the case where the electronic device 100 is operating in thesmart visualization mode, the processor 140 changes the image effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information according to thesituation information and displays the same. Therefore, unlike theillustration in FIG. 3B, the processor 140 may control the display 131to increase the brightness of an entirety of the bar graph imageaccording to the information of the brightness surrounding theelectronic device 100, or change the background surrounding the bargraph according to the date information, or to reflect the situationinformation such as by changing the color of the bar graph according tothe time information or by increasing the range of changing of color,and to display the image effect.

Meanwhile, FIG. 3C illustrates an example of an image effect that may beapplied according to the highlight information of the audiocharacteristics information. The highlight information is information ona highlight section of the music contents. The processor 140 may apply amore emphasized image effect to the highlight section. For example,sections besides the highlight section may display the image effect inone color whereas the highlight section emits light of two or morecolors as illustrated in FIG. 3C. In this case as well, other highlighteffects may of course be displayed on the highlight section of the musiccontents using the situation information.

Meanwhile, the visualization effect corresponding to the audiocharacteristics information is of course not limited to theaforementioned examples. For example, there may of course be avisualization effect where a transition time of color change differsdepending on the mood information, a visualization effect where a motionspeed of a pattern or animation included in the basic image issynchronized with a time point of a beat, and a visualization effectwhere flickering or a pattern of an LED lamp or an animation motion ismade faster in a lively mood but made slower in a quiet mood.

FIGS. 5A-5C illustrate an example of various UIs according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 5A illustratesan example of the mode selecting UI. According to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the processor 140 may display the mode selectingmode UI for selecting one of the simple visualization mode and the smartvisualization mode on the display 130, and when the simple visualizationmode is selected from the displayed mode selecting UI, the processor 140may control the display 130 to display the image effect of visualizingthe music contents using only the audio characteristics information. Inthis case, the processor 130 may not determine the situationinformation.

However, as illustrated in the example of FIG. 5A, when the smartvisualization mode is selected from the mode selecting UI, the processor140 may determine the situation information according to the variousaforementioned methods, and control the display 130 to reflect thedetermined situation information in the visualization effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information and display thevisualization effect of visualizing the music contents.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, asillustrated in FIG. 5B, the processor 140 may control the display 130 todisplay the simple visualization setting UI for setting thevisualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation. According to FIG. 5B, the user may set a color of thevisualization effect according to the mood and adjust the flickeringcycle of the LED lamp through the simple visualization setting UI.Further, the user may adjust the transition time, and also selectwhether or not to apply the highlight effect.

Accordingly, the processor 140 may determine the visualization effectthat the user set through the simple visualization setting UI as thevisualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation. In the simple visualization mode, the visualization effectdetermined as aforementioned will be displayed as it is, and in thesmart visualization mode, the visualization effect determined asaforementioned will be changed according to the situation informationand be displayed.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, asillustrated in FIG. 5C, the processor 140 may control the display 130 todisplay the smart visualization setting UI for selecting the situationinformation to be used to change the visualization effect. Referring toFIG. 5C, one can see that the user selected to change the visualizationeffect corresponding to the audio characteristics information using theweather information, time information and brightness information fromamong various situation information through the smart visualizationsetting UI.

Accordingly, the processor 140 may change the visualization effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information using only theweather information, time information and brightness informationselected by the user from among the various situation informationdetermined.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, thesimple visualization setting UI and the smart visualization setting UImay be displayed on an external device. Here, the external device may beany display device connected to the electronic device 100′ wired orwirelessly.

Therefore, as the user sets the visualization effect from the simplevisualization setting UI displayed on the external device and selectsthe situation information from the smart visualization setting UI, whenthe information on the set visualization effect and the information onthe situation information are transmitted from the external device, thecommunicator 150 may receive those information as aforementioned.

Accordingly, the processor 140 may determine and change thevisualization effect using the received information.

Further, the aforementioned mode selecting UI may also be displayed onthe display device, and when the information on the selected mode isreceived through the communicator 150, the processor 140 may operate theelectronic device 100 in the simple visualization mode or in the smartvisualization mode according to the received information on the mode.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure,the situation information selected according to the smart visualizationsetting UI may be reflected in the image effect in the method ofdirectly showing the corresponding situation information. FIGS. 6A, 6Billustrate such an example.

For example, when the weather information is selected on the smartvisualization setting mode UI and the weather information is determinedas “rain”, the processor 140 may control the display 131 to reflect theimage effect corresponding to the audio characteristics information(weather information) in an image where rain drops are falling and todisplay the same. More specifically, in the example of FIG. 6A, theprocessor 140 may control the display 131 to display the image effectdirectly showing the weather information in the method of synchronizingthe waves that spread on water surface as the rain drops fall to thebeat information.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 6B, when the time information isselected on the smart visualization setting mode UI and the timeinformation is determined as “evening”, the time information may ofcourse be shown directly in the method of synchronizing flickering oflights to the beat information having a night view image as the maintheme.

However, the method of directly showing the situation information in theimage effect is not limited to the aforementioned. For example, it isalso possible to reflect the image effect corresponding to the audiocharacteristics information in the text directly expressing thesituation information and display the same as the image effectvisualization the music contents. Specifically for example, anembodiment of expressing the time according to time information in atext, and changing the color of each number in the time or synchronizingthe flickering speed of each number to the beat of the music contents isalso possible.

Hereinabove, explanation was made based on an example where theprocessor 140 first determines the visualization effect corresponding tothe audio characteristics information on the music contents, and thenchanges the determined visualization effect using the situationinformation, but this is for convenience of explanation, and thus thereis no limitation thereto. That is, the processor 140 may of coursecontrol the visualization effect display 130 to determine and apply thesituation information and the audio characteristics information at thesame time and display the visualization effect of visualizing the musiccontents.

Accordingly, the user may be provided with the visualization effect ofvisualizing the music contents while intuitively recognizing thesituation information on the environment where the music contents arebeing reproduced.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a music contents visualization methodof an electronic device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. According to FIG. 7, when a command to reproduce musiccontents is input (S710), the electronic device 100, 100′ may determinethe audio characteristics information on the music contents and thesituation information on the environment where the music contents arebeing reproduced (S720).

Here, the audio characteristics information may include at least one ofthe beat information, mood information and highlight information of themusic contents, and the situation information may include at least oneof the weather information, date information, time information,information on brightness of surrounding areas of the electronic device100, 100′, and the information on attributes of the reproducing list setby the user.

Meanwhile, the electronic device 100, 100′ may obtain the audiocharacteristics information on the music contents from the externalserver, or by directly analyzing the music contents. Further, theelectronic device 100, 100′ may obtain the situation information fromthe external device or from various sensors. Therefore, when the commandto reproduce the music contents is input, the electronic device 100,100′ may determine the audio characteristics information and situationinformation at the time point when the command to reproduce the musiccontents is input or while the music contents are being reproduced.

Accordingly, the electronic device 100, 100′ may display thevisualization effect of visualizing the music contents using thedetermined audio characteristics information and situation informationand reproduce the music contents (S730). Specifically, the electronicdevice 100, 100′ may determine the visualization effect corresponding tothe audio characteristics information, change the determinedvisualization effect based on the situation information, and display thechanged visualization effect as the visualization effect ofvisualization the music contents.

Here, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, thevisualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation may be the image effect where the basic image of a certainthem changes according to the audio characteristics information.Accordingly, the electronic device 100, 100′ may change at least one ofthe basic image, background, color, brightness, chroma, speed of changeand range of change of the visualization effect corresponding to theaudio characteristics information based on the situation information.

Further, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, thevisualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation may be the visual effect where light emission of at leastone LED lamp changes according to the audio characteristics information.In this case, the electronic device 100, 100′ may change at least one ofthe color, brightness, chroma, speed of change and range of change ofthe visualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation based on the situation information.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, theelectronic device 100, 100′ may determine the situation information ofthe time point when the command to reproduce is input. In this case, theelectronic device 100, 100′ may select the visual effect changing methodcorresponding to the situation information of the point when the commandto reproduce is input from the prestored table where the visual effectchanging method is matched, apply the selected visual effect changingmethod, and change the visual effect corresponding to the audiocharacteristics information.

Further, the electronic device 100, 100′ may determine in real time thesituation information while the music contents are being reproduced,reflect the situation information determined in real time and change thevisual effect corresponding to the audio characteristics information.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a music contents visualization methodof an electronic device according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure. According to FIG. 8, the electronic device 100, 100′displays the mode selecting UI (S810). Here, the mode selecting UI is aUI for selecting one of the simple visualization mode for using only theaudio characteristics information and the smart visualization mode forusing both the audio characteristics information and the situationinformation.

Accordingly, when the user selects the simple visualization mode andinputs a command to reproduce the music contents (S820), the electronicdevice 100, 100′ determines the audio characteristics information on themusic contents for which the command to reproduce is input (S830), andreproduces the music contents while displaying the visualization effectof visualizing the music contents using the audio characteristicsinformation determined (S840).

Meanwhile, when the user selects the smart visualization mode, andinputs the command to reproduce the music contents (S850), theelectronic device 100, 100′ determines the audio characteristicsinformation on the music contents and the situation information wherethe music contents are being reproduced (S860), and reproduces the musiccontents while displaying the visualization effect of visualizing themusic contents using the audio characteristics information and thesituation information determined (S870).

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure,the electronic device 100, 100′ displays at least one of the simplevisualization setting UI for the user to set the visualization effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information and the smartvisualization setting UI for the user to set the situation informationused to change the visualization effect. Accordingly, when the user setsthe visualization effect through the simple visualization setting UI,the electronic device 100, 100′ determines the set visualization effectas the visualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation. Further, when the user selects the situation informationthrough the smart setting UI, the electronic device 100, 100′ changesthe visualization effect corresponding to the audio characteristicsinformation using the selected situation information.

Further, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, theexternal device may display at least one of the mode selecting UI, thesimple visualization setting UI and the smart visualization setting UI.

Accordingly, the electronic device 100, 100′ may operate in at least oneof the simple visualization mode or the smart visualization modeaccording to the mode selected through the mode selecting UI displayedon the external device.

Further, when the visualization effect is set through the simplevisualization setting UI displayed on the external device, andinformation on the set visual effect is received, the electronic device100, 100′ may determine the received visual effect as the visualizationeffect corresponding to the audio characteristics information.

Further, when the situation information is selected through the smartvisualization setting UI displayed on the external device, and theinformation on the selected situation information is received, theelectronic device 100, 100′ may change the visualization effectcorresponding to the audio characteristics information using theinformation on the situation information received.

According to the aforementioned various embodiments, the effect ofvisualizing the music contents may be changed according to theenvironment where the music contents is reproduced. Accordingly, theuser may experience various music contents visualization effects evenwhen listening to the same music contents or music contents of a similaratmosphere.

Meanwhile, the operations of the processor 140 of the electronic device100 or the music contents visualization methods of the electronic deviceaccording to the aforementioned various embodiments may be generated assoftware and mounted onto the electronic device 100 and may be performedby the processor 140.

For example, a non-transitory computer readable medium may be installed,the medium storing a program for performing the music contentsvisualization method including the step of inputting a command toreproduce music contents, a step of determining audio characteristicsinformation on the music contents and situation information on theenvironment where the music contents are being reproduced and a step ofdisplaying the visualizing effect of visualizing the music contentsusing the audio characteristics information and the situationinformation and reproducing the music contents.

Here, the non-transitory computer readable medium, executable by theprocessor 140, refers to not a medium that stores data for a shortperiod of time such as a register, cache, memory and the like, but amedium readable by devices and that stores data semi-permanently.Specifically, the aforementioned various middleware or programs may bestored in a non-transitory computer readable medium such as a CD, DVD,hard disk, blue ray disk, USB, memory card, ROM and the like, and beprovided.

The foregoing exemplary embodiments and advantages are merely exemplaryand are not to be construed as limiting the present embodiments. Thepresent teaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses.Also, the description of the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope ofthe claims, and many alternatives, modifications, and variations will beapparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A music contents visualization method of an electronic device, the method comprising: receiving a user input for reproducing a music content; reproducing the music content corresponding to the user input; while the music content is being reproduced, displaying a first background image corresponding to the music content being reproduced; identifying weather information corresponding to a location of the electronic device reproducing the music content; and while the music content is being reproduced, displaying a second background image corresponding to the weather information and the music content being reproduced; wherein the second background image is displayed with a visualization effect corresponding to the identified weather information, and wherein if the identified weather information indicates rain, the visualization effect comprises rain drop animation.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises receiving weather information from an external server providing the weather information.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises: in response to the weather information corresponding to an environment being changed while the music content is reproduced, changing the visualization effect based on the changed weather information corresponding to the environment.
 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the method further comprises: based on the changed weather information being re-changed while the music content is reproduced, re-changing the changed visualization effect based on the re-changed weather information corresponding to the environment.
 5. The method according to claim 2, wherein the receiving weather information comprises: receiving the weather information where the music content is reproduced from the external server based on the environment where the music content is reproduced.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the displaying the second background image comprises: displaying the second background image based on information included in the music content, wherein the information included in the music content is information being used for displaying a visualization effect corresponding to the music content.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: based on the identified weather information comprising information corresponding to rain, displaying the second background image comprising a visualization effect in which rain drops are falling.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the displaying the second background image comprising the visualization effect in which rain drops are falling comprises: displaying the visualization effect by synchronizing waves that spread on a water surface as the rain drops fall with beat information of the music content being reproduced.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the visualization effect corresponding to the identified weather information comprises an animation object.
 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: displaying a setting UI for setting the visualization effect corresponding to the music content being reproduced, determining the visualization effect set through the displayed setting UI, and displaying the second background image comprising the determined visualization effect corresponding to the identified weather information.
 11. An electronic device, comprising: an audio output unit; a display; and a processor configured to: receive a user input for reproducing a music content, control the audio output unit to reproduce the music content corresponding to the user input, while the music content is being reproduced, control the display to display a first background image corresponding to the music content being reproduced, identify weather information corresponding to a location of the electronic device reproducing the music content, and while the music content is being reproduced, control the display to display a second background image corresponding to the weather information and the music content being reproduced, wherein the second background image is displayed with a visualization effect corresponding to the identified weather information, and wherein if the identified weather information indicates rain, the visualization effect comprises rain drop animation.
 12. The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein: the electronic device further comprises a communication unit, the processor is further configured to control the communication unit to receive weather information from an external server providing the weather information.
 13. The electronic device according to claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to: in response to the weather information corresponding to an environment being changed while the music content is reproduced, change the visualization effect based on the changed weather information corresponding to the environment.
 14. The electronic device according to claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to: based on the changed weather information being re-changed while the music content is reproduced, re-change the changed visualization effect based on the re-changed weather information corresponding to the environment.
 15. The electronic device according to claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive the weather information where the music content is reproduced from the external server based on the environment where the music content is reproduced.
 16. The electronic device according to claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to: display the second background image based on information included in the music content, wherein the information included in the music content is information being used for displaying a visualization effect corresponding to the music content.
 17. The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to: based on the identified weather information comprising information corresponding to rain, display the second background image comprising a visualization effect in which rain drops are falling.
 18. The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to: display the visualization effect by synchronizing waves that spread on a water surface as the rain drops fall with beat information of the music content being reproduced.
 19. The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the visualization effect corresponding to the identified weather information comprises an animation object.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium recording instructions for execution by a processor of an apparatus to cause the apparatus to perform operations comprising: receiving a user input for reproducing a music content; reproducing the music content corresponding to the user input, while the music content is being reproduced, displaying a first background image corresponding to the music content being reproduced; identifying weather information corresponding to a location of the electronic device reproducing the music content, and while the music content is being reproduced, displaying a second background image corresponding to the weather information and the music content being reproduced; wherein the second background image is displayed with a visualization effect corresponding to the identified weather information, and wherein if the identified weather information indicates rain, the visualization effect comprises rain drop animation. 